**4. Management practices**

The hardy and agile Changthangi animals are well adapted to the migratory life practiced under difficult conditions by Changpa. The Changpas reside in traditional circular tents called as 'Rebo' with a local heater arranged in the centre (**Figure 2**). The herds are moved out in open each day for grazing throughout the day and later returned to the villages by night. The grazing spots for summer and winter are properly earmarked although the herds remain migratory. The harsh climatic conditions induce the production of undercoat for insulation against the extreme weather. The animals have adapted well enough to survive on sparse diet where they prefer scrubs to richer grasses. The goats moult at the beginning of summer, by the end of winter combing is done using a combing device to obtain maximum yield of pashmina. The sexual cycle photoperiodism regulated, triggered by decreasing day length and the animals become sexually active from June. Breeding takes place during November and December and the kidding takes place during months of April and May. The kid mortality has been observed to be low, approximately 3%. For mating purpose one buck is sufficient enough to breed 40 does. Weaning of the young one is normally done at 4 months of age. Daily milk production averages 700 ml/animal with lactation length of about 5 months. The goats are kept in open air within stone fencing (**Figure 3**). Highland grazing is generally carried out during the month of July to September, while as the pasture grazing is done during months of May to June and October to December. Goats are restricted to stall feeding from January to April to avoid exposure to the very cold weather. In stall feeding, the average concentrate given to individual animals amounts to 400 g for does, 500 g for bucks and 300 g for young animals daily, while fodder given has been estimated to 1.5 kg to bucks and 1 kg to does as well as young animals daily.

### **4.1 Production parameters**

Of total 15,000 metric tons pashmina wool produced in the world, China's share is 70% followed by Mongolia at 20%. India's yield constitutes a mere 1% of the world's pashmina production. Of this, 40 tones are derived from the around 1.6 lakh

**105**

**Figure 4.**

*Pashmina Goat Farming in Cold Arid Desert of Changthang and Its Impact on Economy…*

pashmina goats found in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. Pashmina yield by bucks is lower and a relatively higher yield by does. These goats are very poor in milk production. On an average a female goat can produce 200–500 ml daily. Pashmina yield per annum in Changthangi goats is about 80 g at first clip, 150 g at second clip, 230 g at third clip, 200 g at fourth clip and 210 g at fifth clip. The length

The reproductive traits of the goats make up an essential part of the farmer's ability to maintain the farm population systematically making the farming enterprise profitable. The age of first tupping, age of first kidding, the gestation period, kidding interval and the litter size of Changthangi goats is 668 ± 18, 830 ± 13, 152, 397 ± 7 days and 1, respectively. Single kidding is more common in 99% cases and twinning is very

rare in Changthangi goats. Gestation period of Changthangi goats is 150 days.

Fibre fineness is the most important quality parameter and it differentiates pashmina fibre from the sheep wool. The average fibre fineness of pashmina fibre is 12–13 μ. The average fibre length is 55–60 mm. The fibre length depends on its origin/genotypes, grade and source. The mean fibre length of guard hair varies from 25 to 93 mm [2]. The microscopic structure of the fibre is given in (**Figure 4**).

of fibre is observed as higher in males than females [10].

*Pashmina goat paddock fenced with stones. Source: Beigh (author of this chapter).*

**4.2 Reproductive parameters**

**Figure 3.**

**4.3 Properties of pashmina fibre**

*Morphological structure of wool. Source: Shakyawar et al. [2].*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84523*

**Figure 2.** *Outer view of* Rebo*. Source: Beigh (author of this chapter).*

*Pashmina Goat Farming in Cold Arid Desert of Changthang and Its Impact on Economy… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84523*

**Figure 3.** *Pashmina goat paddock fenced with stones. Source: Beigh (author of this chapter).*

pashmina goats found in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. Pashmina yield by bucks is lower and a relatively higher yield by does. These goats are very poor in milk production. On an average a female goat can produce 200–500 ml daily. Pashmina yield per annum in Changthangi goats is about 80 g at first clip, 150 g at second clip, 230 g at third clip, 200 g at fourth clip and 210 g at fifth clip. The length of fibre is observed as higher in males than females [10].
